10 Tips for Hosting Thanksgiving or Friendsgiving Right

So you and your beau want to host Thanksgiving or friends giving. Whether it is your first foray into being the hosts or your umpteenth time, here are ten suggestions to make sure your gathering doesn’t devolve into one of the worst nights of your life:

Avoid the bad topics – Political talk is a no-no. This is especially true if you are in an interracial relationship and your guests are all across the board. On that note, avoid racial talk and jokes as well. Remember that scene in “Something New” where the black and white jokes came out and Simon and the grandfather almost came to blows. It was cringeworthy on the screen and will be even more so if you have to witness this in real life – so obviously, ixnay on the okesjay.

Get Fancy Disposable Plates – If you don’t want to guilt your guests into helping you clear and wash dishes, or have a low key attitude because no one offers to help clean up, make everyone’s life much easier by investing in some high quality disposable plates and forks (especially if you don’t have a dishwasher).

Have Games – on a more positive note, have some games ready to entertain your guests. I am a huge fan of pictionary or charades because you can play with large groups of people. You can also download the app heads up for a similar effect. There are also awesome boardgames that might work depending on the size of your party. Avoid strategy games, and keep the mood light with party games. Games likely to turn dirty (like cards against humanity) is really only appropriate for friends giving and not for when mom, pop, and grandma are around.

Decorate – Go ahead and splurge on some thanksgiving decorations. It will make the atmosphere more jovial and give people things to talk about. Thanksgiving themed foods such as turkey shaped appetizers, banners, pumpkins, wreaths, and anything fall themed you can find would work. Look to pinterest for DIY tutortials and recipes.

Entertainment – Be sure to have some thanksgiving themed movies at the ready to play in the background. A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving, Planes, Trains and Automobiles, Pieces of April, are just a few of the movies you may want to consider. However, Netflix, Hulu, and cable should have a few thanksgiving themes movies on their lineup. Meanwhile ABC family or Hallmark channel always have family themed movies – so go for those channels if you can’t find anything good.

Cater – If neither you or your significant other are great cooks, there is no shame in ordering catered food. Sure, most guests are likely to show up with a dish or two, but you don’t want to rely on them for the big ticket items like the turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, and dessert.

Make sure you have enough – This applies to everything – food, seating, plates, etc. The way to do this is to ask everyone to rsvp and then personally send a follow up via email or text confirming attendance as well as if they will be bringing any guests (let it be known the more the merrier).

Start Early – It sucks when people just show up to eat and then bounce. Make a whole day of it by starting early (have appetizers) and letting people know that the start time will be sharp (No CPT). If your friends/family are the type to show up late, just push the time up by two hours so that they will arrive when they are supposed to. If you do this though, make sure you are ready to start receiving guests at the designated time.

Clean House – It should go without saying that whenever guests are coming over your house should be in good condition. If you are not much of a cleaner or you haven’t cleaned in a minute and the house needs a good scrub down, hire someone. There are services like Handy, or individuals offering their cleaning services on craigslist. Most importantly, the bathroom, kitchen, and the space where the guests will convene need to be spic and span.

Don’t forget the Alcohol – If you want people to lighten up and get into the festivities (especially the games) make sure you don’t forget the alcohol. It’s best to have a red, white, and if you want to get really fancy – some champagne. Having the drinks ready to pass out as guests enter is also a nice touch.

That rounds up my list! If you have any ideas or tips that you would like to share, post them below.